Pro-life Groups Also Urge Caution: Reporting Requirements Must be Improved to Complete Picture of Abortion Trends

WASHINGTON, D.C.– This morning the Guttmacher Institute released a new study showing a decline in the U.S. abortion rate from 2008 through 2011. The decline in the incidence of abortion is welcome news but caution is warranted in light of a previous report from the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI)detailing major weaknesses in national abortion reporting data, both public and private.

“While working to pass lifesaving laws the pro-life movement has also been educating Americans about the reality of abortion, steadily changing hearts and minds,” said Susan B. Anthony List president Marjorie Dannenfelser. “The debates going on in the states and on the federal level to protect babies after 20 weeks, ban sex-selection, stop taxpayer funding of abortion, and more, are evidence themselves that our arguments are convincing. The child in the womb is increasingly being seen for what she is: a second victim of the violence of abortion. Guttmacher’s new report is another indication that our nation is indeed growing weary of the destruction wrought by legalized abortion on demand.”

“As welcome as news of this decline is, more information is needed,” said Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute. “The Guttmacher data is based on completely voluntary reporting by abortion providers. Until we have consistent reporting requirements, inclusive of states with high abortion rates and gathered by publicly accountable bodies, we cannot begin to paint a complete picture of U.S abortion trends. The process can and must be improved. States like Arizona and Minnesota prove excellent examples of how improving data collection can allow public and private entities to better serve women and their unborn children.”

The Susan B. Anthony List and its affiliated Political Action Committees, the SBA List Candidate Fund and Women Speak Out PAC, are dedicated to pursuing policies and electing candidates who will reduce and ultimately end abortion. To that end, the SBA List emphasizes the education, promotion, mobilization, and election of pro-life women at all levels of government. The SBA List is a network of more than 365,000 pro-life Americans nationwide.

The Charlotte Lozier Institute is named for a feminist physician known for her commitment to the sanctity of human life and equal career and educational opportunities for women. She was an associate of Susan B. Anthony and her capsule biography can be found at lozierinstitute.org.